by emma | May 15, 2007 | Books
Over the weekend I read Matt Hyams book, I Still Have More Questions Than Answers. I was initally drawn to it because of the titles… its one of my key phrases I think! Then having a flick through it I saw one of the chapters was titled “Messing up the Church” which grabbed my attention even more! It’s a quick read, I read it on the 6 hour car journey back up from England at the weekend.
Its a very personal account of the journey of Southampton Vineyard and of Matt himself. He writes candidly about his struggles and questions. I was encouraged and challenged and provoked as I read this book… at one point Matt shares how they scrapped their very slick, polished, professional Sunday services where the “professionals” lead the worship, in favour of giving each housegroup responsibility over leading the Sunday services, providing everyone with a chance to bring their gifts to the table . It’s something I’ve been thinking about lately… what we display on Sunday at our meetings is naturally what we put our efforts into. Does it reflect the priorities we want to have, maybe even the ones we say we have?
Matt also shares a bit about his heart for the poor and the broken, things that encouraged me because I often feel them, and still things that challenged me, because I still have so far to go…
“Certainly, we can support work in these countries financially from here but I just cannot believe that this is all Jesus wants for us. It just seems too distant and cold. It seems to cost us so little and, ultimately, it does not really affect our hearts that much…”
“It will cost us to be Christ to them because the very thing that makes them poor in spirit will make them hard to be with.”
by emma | May 14, 2007 | Words
“I’ve heard it said that if you don’t believe God created the world in six literal days you are denying that Jesus died on the cross. A day in Jupiter is over 300 years long – I guess it depends on where God was standing!”
[Matt Hyam, speaking at the VPN conference]
by emma | May 12, 2007 | Faith
I’m spending the weekend in Swanwick (here) at the Vineyard Prayer Network conference. So far it’s been refreshing!
I was meditating on Psalm 25 earlier, and had a few stand-out phrases that struck me anew. “All day long I put my hope in you” (v5) was one, as was “for in you I take refuge” (v20).
I also spent some time thinking about Jesus’ words in Matt 16… “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Got that phrase… come after me… stuck in my head…
by emma | May 10, 2007 | Words
It’s the wrong kind of place
To be thinking of you…
by emma | May 10, 2007 | Faith, Uni
“The essence of all pantheism, evolutionism, and modern cosmic religion is really in this proposition: that Nature is our mother… The point of Christianity was this: that Nature is not our mother: Nature is our sister…”
[GK Chesterton]
I’ve been doing a fair bit of research on climate change lately as it’s been a focus for us as social action team at GUCU. I put together a short powerpoint-type thing with some of the biblical basis for why we should care about which we showed at CU last night, and then gave out some flyers with practical steps we can take. Thought I’d post the flyer up here, click for a larger image.
Sign up at icount for some more ideas, and check out Tearfunds stuff… they have a really good booklet called For Tomorrow Too which I used a lot.
“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
[Rom 8:19-22]
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